Mother
by meganechan720
Summary: Mike found Donnie in the kitchen, staring at a small white box. "Call the others," he said. Mike obeyed instantly.
1. I & II

Mike found Donnie in the kitchen, staring at a small white box.

"Call the others," Don said without looking up. Something in his voice made Mike obey instantly. Once they were all gathered, Donatello opened the box. Inside was a single red-eared slider, trying to climb out.

"What's this?" Raph snorted.

"This," Don said softly, "Is our mother."

The only noise for several minutes was the hum of the fridge and the sound of claws on cardboard.

"Are you sure?" Leonardo finally whispered.

"I'm sure," Donatello whispered back.

They watched the little creature in the box for a long time.

* * *

Splinter's first reaction to the little female was to bow low and start speaking in Japanese, mostly about how grateful he was to have the opportunity to raise her sons in her place, and how honored he was to have finally met her, and to generally pay his respects. This broke the spell on the four larger turtles. Donatello grabbed Leonardo and Michelangelo and told them they were going to help him construct the best aquarium ever. Raphael stayed by his father's side, watching the tiny creature.

"Hey, mom," he said, after Splinter had run out of words. Splinter smiled.

* * *

_AN: This is the first time I've done something like this, so let me explain. Both of those two sections up there are exactly 100 words long. No special reason for it, it just worked out that way. But that's all I've got. There's more to this, I just know it, but I don't know what. So that's where you guys come in. Where do you see this going? What direction do you see it taking after this? I know it works fine on its own, but I want to explore it. Thanks in advance!_


	2. III & IV

_Addressing one of the most common questions: how did Donnie know it was her? Also, keeping with the 100 words thing. It's a nice challenge._

* * *

"Here's what I want to know," Mike said, hammering away. The aquarium was going to take up most of the second storage room, which was right off the main room, for easy access. Don grunted, absorbed in his plans.

"How did you find her?"

Don hmm'd for a moment, thinking, and then looked up at his brother.

"Lucky for us the pet shop we came from has very good records. She was one of their best breeders."

"Whoa, so, like… how many brothers and sisters do we have?"

Don laughed at Mikey's expression.

"Hundreds at least."

Mike's silence was awed.

* * *

"Did you pay for her?"

Don threw down his hammer.

"Leo, are you implying that I _stole _my own mother?"

Mike burst out laughing, but quickly stifled it. Leo's expression hadn't changed.

"Well?"

Don sighed.

"She cost a pretty penny, I'll have you know. She was their prize breeder, so they wouldn't let her go for less than $300."

Leo coughed, eyes going wide. Mike laughed again.

"Now don't you wish Don _had _stolen her?"

His brothers rounded on him.

"No!"

"Mikey, she's our _mother_. And she's ours, fair and square, all nice and legal."

Mike drew back, muttering.

"Sheesh."


	3. V & VI

Raph walked into the lair almost completely hidden by bags full of various plants. He set it down carefully in the second storage room, and then went to pay his respects to his mother, who was temporarily living in a smaller aquarium in the kitchen. Don gazed after him.

"Is it just me," he said to Mikey, who was balancing on scaffolding, "or has Raph been… different lately?"

"Dude, I know what you mean. He's been totally mellow since you brought mom home."

"Hmm…" Don mulled that over for a while, while Mike jumped down to begin sorting through plants.

* * *

"Hey, what are we gonna call her?"

"Hm? Oh, you mean mom?"

"Dude, we can't keep calling her mom."

"Why not?"

"Well…" Don could hear Mikey fidgeting high above. "I dunno. It's weird."

"I don't know about weird, but you're right. We should give her a name."

"How about Catherine?"

"Why Catherine?"

"'Cause any lady worth mentioning during the Renassiance is named Catherine. Catherine Baloney, Catherine Hemessen, Catherine de Medici."

"Catherine Baloney?"

"Yeah, you know, that one chick. The patron saint of artists."

Don gave his little brother a suspicious look, but Mikey was suddenly too busy hammering to notice.

* * *

_Mike is referencing Catherine Bolonga, also known as Catherine de'Vigri, a Renaissance painter who was later canonized. Caterina van Hemessen was a Flemish painter during the Renaissance. Catherine de Medici was a pretty ruthless lady who was the Queen of France and ruled it as regent behind three of her sons. I agree with Mikey. Any Renaissance lady worth her salt was called Catherine._

_If you want more about Raph and mommy issues, go to Stealthy Stories and find my meganechan page, where this story is also being posted.  
_


	4. VII & VIII

"I bet you could find our other siblings, Don!"

Don leaned back in his chair and sighed, rubbing his eyes. Negotiating Leo's desire for a feng shui inspired habitat with Mikey's desire for a turtle obstacle course was wearing on him.

"Why would I do that?"

"…Don't you think about it sometimes? What it would be like? If we could mutate them, like us?"

Don sighed.

"Well, since I don't have any ooze lying around the lair—"

"Not my question, dude."

Don sighed again.

"Yes, I've thought about it. And even if we had any, I wouldn't do it."

* * *

It was like telepathy. Somehow, they always knew when the other needed to talk. Even in the middle of the night. Raph didn't have to wait for more than five minutes in the dojo before Leo appeared.

"I had a dream," he said without preamble. "About mom."

Leo waited.

"We…we found some ooze. And so we mutated her, so she was like us. And she…" Raph's eyes went distant. "She reached out and put her hand on my shoulder. And she called me 'my son.' You know, like Splinter does. Only it was her."

Leo was silent a long while.

* * *

_Wow, this is turning into a real fic, with a plot* and everything!_

_*my definition of 'plot' is pretty loose._


	5. IX & X

"Why not?"

Don put down his pencil and turned to Mikey. His brother wasn't bugging him, he was being serious. He wanted to encourage this behavior.

"Are you ready to be a dad, Mikey?"

"What?"

"Even if we mutated a fully grown turtle like mom, they would still need to be taught _everything_. Splinter was extremely lucky in that he was able to learn about humans from observing Master Yoshi. But mom probably doesn't know anything. Not to mention that turtles just aren't as intelligent as rats. It would be like having a little kid around."

Mike looked crestfallen.

"Oh."

* * *

"You know… she's just a turtle."

Raph snapped out of his reverie, pinning his brother with his gaze.

"…what?"

"She may be genetically related to us, but that turtle in there is not our mother."

Leo had his arms folded over his plastron. He didn't want to be saying these words any more than Raph apparently wanted to hear them, but they needed to be said.

Raph seemed to be slowly inflating with rage. Leo wondered if he'd gone too far.

"Speak for yourself, Leonardo," was all his brother said. Somehow, it was worse than a punch in the face.

* * *

_I have no idea if turtles are actually less intelligent than rats. How do you measure that kind of thing anyway? But it seems true._


	6. XI & XII

Mike fidgeted, and then brought his eyes up to meet Don's.

"But… don't you want a mother?"

Don stood up and enfolded his brother in a hug. Mikey accepted it gratefully.

"Of course I do. We've all felt that at some point. But this little turtle isn't it."

"Why did you go and find her, then?" Mike's voice was slightly accusing. Don sighed. How many times had he asked himself that same question since bringing her home? Heck, since opening that search engine?

"I don't really know. I was just… curious."

Mike chuckled. Donnie's curiosity could kill a million cats.

* * *

"Raph, you can't be serious. She didn't raise us. She doesn't love us. Heck, April is more like our mother than she is."

"What happened to Leonardo the Japanophile?" Raph said nastily. Leo knew he was going to keep pushing his brother's buttons until he stopped calling him Leonardo. "Respecting your ancestors and everything having a spirit? She don't need to be intelligent to be our mom."

"I just don't think it's healthy, the way you're acting. What do you want to do next, have Splinter marry her, make him our legal guardian?"

There was that punch in the face.


	7. XIII & XIV

"You know, Mike and Don named her Catherine."

Raph nodded from where he lay sprawled on the floor.

"That's a good name."

Leo swiped at the blood trickling from his nose.

"She _is _pretty cute."

Raph lifted an eye ridge.

"Cute? Really?"

Leo chuckled, which he could do now. He and Raph had always talked with their fists.

"Well, she is. She's so tiny. We're her big strapping boys. What will she do with us?"

"What, indeed, is a parent to do with boys who cannot refrain from fighting at four in the morning?"

They stood guiltily at Splinter's voice.

* * *

"I trust you have resolved your differences?" Splinter said tiredly.

"Yes, sensei," they chorused dutifully, but sincerely. Splinter nodded.

"Good. Now go to bed."

The rat made his way into the kitchen, where the temporary aquarium was set up. He bowed low to the mother of his sons, and then stood as though listening for a long time.

"You're right," he said after a while. "That is simply how they are. But I cannot help but wonder if all that brawling will give them brain damage someday."

More silence. Then he laughed.

"You always know just what to say, Catherine-sama."

* * *

_Don't worry, Splinter's not crazy. He's just talking to himself._


	8. XV & XVI

"I had a dream about her," Mikey was admitting to Donnie. Leo paused in his work arranging reeds and cattails in the mud. Donnie turned his head to his brother, indicating that he was listening. "She fell to the floor and her shell cracked open, only instead of blood and guts, her spirit came pouring out. And she looked like us, only all golden and glowy, and she hugged us and told us she loved us."

Leo wasn't eavesdropping. But as Mike sniffed and swiped away the tears, he was glad his brothers didn't seem to know he was there.

* * *

When Donnie admitted to having a dream about their mother turning humanoid, Leo told himself he shouldn't be surprised. His brother's mind had been filled with nothing but thoughts of building the ultimate aquarium for weeks now. But when Leonardo himself had a dream where April told him the spirit of their mother resided in her and that she'd been watching over them all along, he decided it was time to investigate, the only way he knew how.

"Master Splinter?"

"Yes, my son."

Leo settled himself down next to his father.

"Can you help me get to the astral plane?"


	9. XVII & XVIII

He could feel the tears running down his cheeks, and he could feel his brothers crowding awkwardly outside the dojo, caught between the pull of the sacred hour of practice, and wanting to give their brother privacy. Without opening his eyes he called them in, voice breaking. They crowded around him, and he opened his eyes as he spoke.

"I saw her. Mom."

He could see their shock. He had never called her mom before. He opened his mouth to explain, and then found that the words did not exist.

"It was like…" he began. But they still weren't there.

* * *

"Benevolence."

He looked at Raph, eyes wide with surprise. His brother was wearing that calm face they had tentatively become used to. He thought about it, and then nodded.

"Yes. She doesn't… love us, not like a human mother loves her children, but being raised in a pet shop, with no predators, free food every day, clean water… That might have driven a human crazy, but her… it turned her into a saint. The darkness of the world doesn't exist in her mind. And she feels a sort of… benevolence, you could call it, for the whole world."

Raph smiled.


	10. XIX & XX

"So, where is the little lady?"

Casey's brash voice disturbed the quiet of the lair, though no one really minded. April trailed after him, her hand on her swollen belly. Mike bounded over to her, placing his ear delicately against the roundness.

"She's asleep right now," April told him, laughing. Don wandered over too, frowning.

"April, you really shouldn't be down here this far along. We do live in a sewer, and—"

"And I wore galoshes," she said, lifting one foot in demonstration. "I'm fine, Donnie, really. You don't have to fuss. I get enough of that from Casey."

* * *

"What's it like, man?" Casey asked as he peered over the short ledge around the enclosure. Catherine was sunning herself on a rock, basking in the light of a sun lamp Don had installed for her. Raph stared ahead at his mother, not reacting to Casey's question for several long moments. When he did, his voice was low.

"'S'like… I was broken, and now 'm fixed."

Casey raised an eyebrow. That sounded a little… drastic, especially considering the mother in question couldn't even talk. Raph noticed and shrugged.

"It's just… the knowin'. You know. There she is. No more wonderin'."


	11. XXI & XXII

"Sometimes we let her pick the movie!" Mike said, and then whispered conspiratorially, "She always picks mine."

April giggled, though it really wasn't that funny. This wasn't like suddenly meeting your absent mother. It wasn't even like having a mother with severe mental disabilities. It was like having your mother as a pet. She'd been trying to come around more once she'd found out about Don's discovery, but what with the baby and everything she hadn't had the chance until now. Now she was wondering if her boys' devotion to this little turtle wasn't starting to get a little… unhealthy.

* * *

"It's like having a shrine to your ancestors," Don explained in a low voice. "Only the food offerings you leave actually get eaten."

"But…" April couldn't think how to put this into words, this… _wrongness_. Anthropomorphizing was one thing, but Mike sounded like he actually believed in it. Don gave her a complicated look made up mostly of sorrow.

"We know," he said in an even lower voice. "We _get_ it, April. You've been like a mother to us, as well as a sister. But…" His eyes were pleading. "Just let us have this."

April could never deny them anything.


	12. XXIII & XXIV

_Much thanks to Mikell for the info on turtles for this one. You're a lifesaver!_

_Annnnd, clearly I am not getting the Turtles' anatomy from the movies. Because those guys could retract all the way into their shells._

* * *

Soon they took her out of the enclosure so the humans could say hello properly. Mikey held her, presenting her first to April.

"Can I… pet her?" April asked timidly. It seemed an odd question to ask about someone's mother.

"I guess. She might not like it, though. I mean, she's not a cat or anything. But she'll get used to you eventually. Here," he said, handing her a piece of lettuce. "See if she'll eat from your hand. She won't do that for everyone."

She did for April, and it was one of the proudest moments of her life.

* * *

When it was Casey's turn, though, she ducked inside her shell at his touch. He didn't seem offended, to Catherine's sons' relief.

"Hey, how come you guys can't do that?" he asked, stroking her shell. Don rolled his eyes.

"Casey, our plastrons don't even connect with our shells. Where exactly are we supposed to put our arms and legs, I ask you?"

Casey studied the (mutant) turtle nearest him.

"I guess that'd be kinda hard, huh?"

"No joke, shell-for-brains," Raph said, nudging him. "Now quit touchin' my mom like that."

Casey jerked his hand away, to the sound of laughter.


	13. XXV & XXVI

And there it was. Raph's secret.

Leo, hidden from view, watched his brother pant and snort like an enraged bull, none of his newfound peace left. He stood like this in front of their mother, who was watching him with dark, fathomless eyes. He took in one more breath, closed his eyes, and held it for a full minute, before letting it out slowly. The tight set of Raph's shoulders loosened. His fists unclenched. He sat down cross legged, and folded his arms over the ledge, settling his chin on top of them, watching their mother for a long time.

* * *

Leo could feel all of Raph's anger drain away with that long exhale, bleed out into the air and dissipate, to be slowly replaced with their mother's endless patience.

"She's training you," he said after a moment. Raph didn't even twitch.

"Only you would call it that," he said without turning around. Leo stepped forward to join him.

"Well, would you rather I call it anger management therapy?"

Raph actually chuckled.

"Sure."

"How did you…?" He wasn't even sure what he was asking, but Raph understood.

"I can't be angry around her," he said simply. "Doesn't work. She's my peace."

_

* * *

_

_Well, kids, that's it for now. This has been an incredible journey, and I want to thank everyone who reviewed, either to give ideas or encouragement. This fic wouldn't exist without you. I won't say I'll never come back to this, but for now I'm going to move on to some other projects I've been working on.  
_


End file.
